Spearfishing with a mini scuba tank in the US: what Florida, California, Texas, Hawaii and Puerto Rico allow

A mini tank is a small scuba tank. Fishing rules do not care that it holds half a liter instead of eighty cubic feet: if you breathe compressed air underwater, you are diving on scuba. Some places in the US let you spear fish on scuba, some ban it outright, and some ban even having a tank and a speargun on the same boat.

Here is what the official texts say for the places where people most often ask us. Rules change, often by the season, so treat this as a starting point and check the current regulations before you go.

The short version

Place	Spearfishing on scuba	What to watch
Florida	Allowed in most salt waters	Closed areas near beaches, piers, bridges and jetties, state parks, the upper Keys, and a long list of protected species. No rebreathers.
California	Allowed for most finfish	Lobster by hand or hoop net only, abalone closed, several species off limits, marine protected areas.
Texas	The rules do not mention diving gear	Spears and spearguns take nongame fish only.
Hawaii	Banned in West Hawaii	No scuba spearfishing from South Point to Upolu Point, and no tank and spear together.
Puerto Rico	Banned for recreational fishers	No spear and dive tank together. Recreational spearfishing is breath-hold only.
Virgin Islands National Park	No spearfishing	Only rod or line held in the hand.

Florida

Florida allows spearing in its salt waters, with exceptions set out in rule 68B-20.003 of the Florida Administrative Code. Spearfishing is prohibited:

• within 100 yards of public bathing beaches;
• within 100 yards of commercial or public fishing piers;
• within 100 yards of any part of a bridge where public fishing is allowed;
• within 100 feet of the part of a jetty above the water, except along the last 500 yards of jetties that run more than 1,500 yards from shore;
• in waters managed by the state parks division, where you may only carry spear gear unloaded, stowed, on a boat passing straight through;
• in Monroe County state waters from Long Key north to the Miami-Dade County line, on both the bay side and the ocean side, as NOAA's Florida Keys sanctuary lists them.

The same rule bans powerheads, bangsticks and rebreathers for harvesting. A mini tank is open-circuit scuba, not a rebreather.

Rule 68B-20.005 lists the species you may never spear. Among the ones divers meet most: billfish, tarpon, bonefish, permit, pompano, snook, red drum, spotted seatrout, tripletail, sharks, goliath grouper, Nassau grouper, spotted eagle ray and manta rays. It also protects whole families of reef fish: angelfish and butterflyfish, parrotfish, surgeonfish, damselfish, squirrelfish, trunkfish, puffers, porcupinefish, trumpetfish, cornetfish, and seahorses and pipefish.

In the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the Sanctuary Preservation Areas are closed to fishing of any kind, lionfish included. Our guide to the Florida Keys with a mini tank explains the zones.

California

Section 28.90 of Title 14 lets people swimming or floating in the water use spearfishing gear with skin or scuba equipment for most finfish. The exceptions include giant (black) sea bass, garibaldi, gulf grouper, broomtail grouper, trout, salmon and broadbill swordfish. North of Ventura County, spears may not be used within 100 yards of a stream mouth.

For invertebrates, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife is clear on three points:

• Spiny lobster may only be taken by hand or with a hoop net. You can carry a speargun while diving for lobster, but using it on a lobster is illegal.
• Abalone is closed in all ocean waters.
• North of Yankee Point in Monterey County, scuba may only be used to take sea urchins, rock scallops and Cancer crabs.

Marine protected areas add their own limits, and some allow spearfishing for finfish while banning everything else. Look up the area before you get in. Our guide to Southern California with a mini tank lists the rules at the main shore spots.

Texas

The Texas Parks and Wildlife device rules, valid from September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027, say spears and spearguns may be used to take nongame fish only. Game fish, which include red drum and spotted seatrout, may be taken only by pole and line unless the rules say otherwise. The device rules do not single out diving gear: what decides is the species.

Hawaii

Hawaii's Division of Aquatic Resources bans scuba spearfishing in the West Hawaii Regional Fishery Management Area, which runs along the west coast of the Big Island from Ka Lae (South Point) to Upolu Point in North Kohala. The rule goes further than the act itself. It is illegal to:

• spearfish on scuba;
• have scuba gear and a spear with you at the same time;
• have scuba gear and any speared fish or other speared marine life at the same time.

A mini tank is scuba gear. In West Hawaii, if there is a speargun on board, the tank stays at home.

Elsewhere in the islands, check the area before you dive: Marine Life Conservation Districts and Fisheries Management Areas have their own limits, and new ones are added. Our guide to Hawaii's marine protected areas covers the main ones.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico's fishing regulation, Reglamento 7949 of 2010, is direct. For recreational fishers, it is illegal to use a spear and a dive tank at the same time (article 18.2), and the only spearfishing allowed is breath-hold (article 18.9). Air compressors, the hookah rigs that feed air through a hose, are banned for fishing too.

The same regulation bans spearfishing at night, from piers, in reservoirs, rivers and estuaries, in bathing areas, in marine reserves and on artificial reefs (article 8.5), and with a loaded speargun within 100 feet of the shore (article 8.6). The one exception is lionfish, for volunteers with a written authorization from the Secretary. Our guide to Puerto Rico with a mini tank covers the reserves.

US Virgin Islands

Inside Virgin Islands National Park on St. John, the federal rule (36 CFR 7.74) allows fish to be taken only with a rod or line held in the hand, or with traditional traps. No spearfishing, on scuba or not. Outside the park, check the territorial rules with the Department of Planning and Natural Resources.

How we see it

A mini tank is made for working under your boat and for a few minutes of looking around, not for hunting. Where the rules allow spearfishing on scuba, the usual limits still apply: licenses, seasons, sizes and bag limits. Where they ban it, the simplest habit is to keep the speargun and the tank on separate trips. And wherever you are, a dive flag goes up before anyone gets in: see dive flag rules in the US.

Sources

• Florida Administrative Code, rule 68B-20.003, Spearing, statewide regulation, and rule 68B-20.005, Species that may not be speared
• NOAA, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, lionfish removal: where spearfishing is prohibited
• California Code of Regulations, Title 14, section 28.90, diving and spearfishing
• California Department of Fish and Wildlife, invertebrate fishing regulations, recreational lobster fishing and abalone
• Texas Parks and Wildlife, legal devices, methods and restrictions
• Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources, West Hawaii Regional Fishery Management Area
• Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, Reglamento de Pesca de Puerto Rico, Reglamento 7949, articles 8.5, 8.6, 18.2 and 18.9
• Code of Federal Regulations, 36 CFR 7.74, Virgin Islands National Park

Checked in October 2026. Fishing rules change often, sometimes in the middle of a season: read the current regulations for the place you fish.